Robbie is the son of a preacher in small-town America in 1899.

People are saying that the world's going to end at the turn of the century, so Robbie decides that he'd better make the most of his life and have as much fun as possible - while he still can!

But his outrageous behaviour does little to improve people's opinions of him, or his father.

Katherine Paterson is an internationally acclaimed author who has won the Newbery Medal (twice), the National Book Award for Children's Literature (USA) twice, and the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award.